THE WAY OF BIRTH by Jennifer Hawley-Zechlin

In many spiritual traditions the mythologies of creation and destruction are woven together, each being dependent on the other.

Birth, death, and resurrection create cycles of eternity, each incomplete without the other.  In the poem The Way of Birth, I explore some of these symbols whilst at the same time honoring the process within myself. 

Pain is present in endings - whether it comes as the end of a relationship, a child getting ready to head out on their own, or even as the taming of our own selves. 

Whatever the destruction, it's important for me to remember that creation and newness comes on painful heels.  The Way of Birth is the way of life.

Photograph by Maia Nature Photogrpahy

~ The Way of Birth ~

The Universe has been pregnant with us

for a very long time now,

You and I.

We have been together, united but separate,

Growing in Universe-Utero.

You, a fetus awaiting all the good things to come;

Sunshine warm on your thin pale face,

Diamond studded sand for your bare feet to walk on

Leaving golden glitter between your toes,

The music of birdsong in the morning as you rise

and whispering breezes to lull-a-bye you at night.

I have been your placenta.

I have sheltered you and protected you,

delivered nourishment from the Womb of All Life,

and allowed you to expel your waste.

Through me.

I have not been your life-source.

Your birth is not dependent on me.

And yet, without me, you would never make it to life

Free to breathe for the first time

Sweet, luscious air scented by lilacs

and Summer heat.

I, though so very different from you,

would not have existed without you.

I never would have plumped up,

Crimson-Purple, filled with life,

Clinging passionately to the Universe's Uterus.

Without you, without us, both awaiting birth,

I never would have become feeder.

Maybe that's where we made our mistake,

You and I.

Perhaps, like an overdue infant,

we became too comfortable in that

dark

silent

confining Womb.

taking each other for granted

and refusing to feel the pains of labour.

Still, labour will come. Birth can not be avoided.

The pains have already begun.

I have already begun to tear away from our shared Womb's wall.

I can provided you no more,

and though it will be frightening and a little violent

(Because birthing is always a little violent),

soon you will be born.

Do not fear, my love.

When it is over, you will be able to rest

Safe in the arms of your Mother.

You will grow and toddle and live.

And I too will be birthed.

Tearing away completely and making the same journey you do.

Separate,

and ready to enter the Universe and be transformed.

For this is the way of birth.

For both you and I.

(Thursday January 31, 2013. 1:47am)

Jennifer Hawley-Zechlin: “I am an amateur poet, forever student, lover of life, and professional dreamer and thinker.  I live with my partner of 24 years and our 16 year-old daughter in the mountains of Southern California where we are kept by a couple of dogs, a silky black cat, and a hen with attitude. Professionally, I have just begun seminary classes in addition to a couple of classes for pleasure.  I work as an ordained chaplain for a large international inter-faith community and am involved with a non-residential monastic order based on creativity, meditative practice, and soul friendships as a founding member where I am helping to form the curriculum and program of formation. I read far too many books, experiment with painting and drawing, and sing, badly and joyfully, in the middle of the night. I enjoy anything that connects me to life itself, feeling strongly that everything is a bit interconnected and truly awe producing, if only we can open ourselves to seeing the beauty in it all.  I can be found on Facebook here and more of my writing can be found at The Anthology of Oaken Grace.

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